Air Force Technical Applications Center
Encyclopedia
The Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC), based at Patrick Air Force Base
, Fla.
is an Air Force
surveillance organization assigned to the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency. Its mission is to monitor nuclear treaties of all applicable signatory countries. This is accomplished via seismic, hydroacoustic and satellite
detection systems.
Upon detection of any disturbance in USAEDS, the applicable AFTAC laboratories analyze the event for identification. Should the event detected be nuclear in nature the event is referred to national command authorities.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
directed the Army Air Corps
to coordinate detection of nuclear detonations anywhere in the world. The following day, the United States Air Force
was separated into a distinct service; the atomic detection mission was incorporated into the new entity.
Activated April 1, 1948, as a field extension of the Air Force chief of staff, the 51st Air Force Base Unit was tasked to experiment on various platforms for the detection of nuclear weapons. An infrastructure for detection was constructed quickly, amidst fears of the Russia's nuclear ambitions.
On Aug. 28, 1948, the 51st Air Force Base Unit was redesignated the 1009th Special Weapons Squadron. The 1009th was assigned to Headquarters Command, U.S. Air Force, Aug. 1, 1949. One month later, an air sampler aboard an AFOAT-1 B-29 flying between Alaska and Japan detected debris from the first Russian nuclear test.
By the end of June 1971, 13 detection techniques were being actively pursued by USAEDS: Seismic(B), Debris Collection (C),
Whole Air Sampling (D), Geophysical Diagnostics (F), Magnetic (H), Acoustic (I), Debris Analysis (L), Hydroacoustic ( 0 ) , Electromagnetic Pulse (Q), Vela Satellite system (T), Very Low Frequency Phase (U), High Frequency Radio (W), and Atmospheric Fluorescence (2).
AFTAC was activated in 1973, assuming control of the USAEDS mission.
On March 11, 1968, the acoustic signatures of two extended destructive events were detected and recorded by four AFTAC hydroacoustic stations in the Pacific: Midway Island; Kaneohe, Oahu; Wake Island; and Eniwetok; and by the AFTAC tap on a US Navy SOSUS array terminating at Adak, Alaska. These signals were analyzed using time-difference of arrival times at each station and were determined to originate within 2 nms of 40-06N / 179-57E and originating within a few seconds of 111200Z March 1968. This detection and localization provided the first specific data on the wreck of the Soviet Golf-II class SSB "K-129" which became the target of the CIA's Project "AZORIAN" salvage operation conducted in the summer of 1974.
detected a double flash of light, consistent with a nuclear explosion, centered over the Prince Edwards islands. There is still a great deal of contention about whether the detection was nuclear in origin.
Patrick Air Force Base
Patrick Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located between Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach, in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It was named in honor of Major General Mason Patrick. An Air Force Space Command base, it is home to the 45th Space Wing...
, Fla.
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
is an Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
surveillance organization assigned to the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency. Its mission is to monitor nuclear treaties of all applicable signatory countries. This is accomplished via seismic, hydroacoustic and satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
detection systems.
Mission
AFTAC's mission is the detection of nuclear detonations (NUDETs) anywhere in the world: below ground, in water, surface blasts, free-air and in space. The global network of monitoring is referred to as the United States Atomic Energy Detection System (USAEDS). The purpose of maintaining the vast network is to ensure that countries who are signatories on various nuclear treaties comply with the intent of the nuclear treaties.- The Limited Test Ban Treaty limits nuclear testingNuclear testingNuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them...
to underground, and furthermore prohibits the venting of nuclear debris or radiation from those tests outside the country's national borders.
- The Threshold Test Ban TreatyThreshold Test Ban TreatyThe Treaty on the Limitation of Underground Nuclear Weapon Tests, also known as the Threshold Test Ban Treaty , was signed in July 1974 by the USA and the USSR...
limits all nuclear testing to a yield of under 150 kilotons of TNT.
- Finally, the Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty limits all civilian purpose nuclear explosions to a yield of 150 kilotons and an aggregate group yield of 1,500 kilotons.
Upon detection of any disturbance in USAEDS, the applicable AFTAC laboratories analyze the event for identification. Should the event detected be nuclear in nature the event is referred to national command authorities.
History
On Sept. 17, 1947, Army Chief of StaffChief of Staff of the United States Army
The Chief of Staff of the Army is a statutory office held by a four-star general in the United States Army, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, and as such is the principal military advisor and a deputy to the Secretary of the Army; and is in...
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
directed the Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
to coordinate detection of nuclear detonations anywhere in the world. The following day, the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
was separated into a distinct service; the atomic detection mission was incorporated into the new entity.
Activated April 1, 1948, as a field extension of the Air Force chief of staff, the 51st Air Force Base Unit was tasked to experiment on various platforms for the detection of nuclear weapons. An infrastructure for detection was constructed quickly, amidst fears of the Russia's nuclear ambitions.
On Aug. 28, 1948, the 51st Air Force Base Unit was redesignated the 1009th Special Weapons Squadron. The 1009th was assigned to Headquarters Command, U.S. Air Force, Aug. 1, 1949. One month later, an air sampler aboard an AFOAT-1 B-29 flying between Alaska and Japan detected debris from the first Russian nuclear test.
By the end of June 1971, 13 detection techniques were being actively pursued by USAEDS: Seismic(B), Debris Collection (C),
Whole Air Sampling (D), Geophysical Diagnostics (F), Magnetic (H), Acoustic (I), Debris Analysis (L), Hydroacoustic ( 0 ) , Electromagnetic Pulse (Q), Vela Satellite system (T), Very Low Frequency Phase (U), High Frequency Radio (W), and Atmospheric Fluorescence (2).
AFTAC was activated in 1973, assuming control of the USAEDS mission.
Sinking of Soviet Submarine K-129
On March 11, 1968, the acoustic signatures of two extended destructive events were detected and recorded by four AFTAC hydroacoustic stations in the Pacific: Midway Island; Kaneohe, Oahu; Wake Island; and Eniwetok; and by the AFTAC tap on a US Navy SOSUS array terminating at Adak, Alaska. These signals were analyzed using time-difference of arrival times at each station and were determined to originate within 2 nms of 40-06N / 179-57E and originating within a few seconds of 111200Z March 1968. This detection and localization provided the first specific data on the wreck of the Soviet Golf-II class SSB "K-129" which became the target of the CIA's Project "AZORIAN" salvage operation conducted in the summer of 1974.
Vela Incident
On Sept. 22, 1979, one of the Vela satellitesVela (satellite)
Vela was the name of a group of satellites developed as the Vela Hotel element of Project Vela by the United States to monitor compliance with the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty by the Soviet Union, and other nuclear-capable states. It means vigil or "watch" in Spanish.Vela started out as a small...
detected a double flash of light, consistent with a nuclear explosion, centered over the Prince Edwards islands. There is still a great deal of contention about whether the detection was nuclear in origin.
Pakistan
AFTAC detected Pakistan's first of five nuclear tests May 28, 1998, with another nuclear test May 30, 1998. This was several days after several Indian tests.North Korea
AFTAC confirmed North Korea's 2006 nuclear test.See also
- Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency
- Patrick Air Force BasePatrick Air Force BasePatrick Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located between Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach, in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It was named in honor of Major General Mason Patrick. An Air Force Space Command base, it is home to the 45th Space Wing...
External links
- Air Force Technical Applications Center's official website
- Air Force Technical Applications Center fact sheet
- U.S. National Data Center
- Air Force Technical Applications Center at Federation of American ScientistsFederation of American ScientistsThe Federation of American Scientists is a nonpartisan, 501 organization intent on using science and scientific analysis to attempt make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1945 by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs...
- Long Range Detection Alumni Association